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27 March 2015

First ever EU Research & Innovation Day in Seoul and meeting with Korean counterparts

Ms Cristina Russo, Director for International Cooperation in DG Research and Innovation

Ms Cristina Russo, Director for International Cooperation in DG Research and Innovation went on mission to Korea this week to participate in the first ever EU Research & Innovation Day in Seoul and to meet her Korean counterparts.

The EU Research & Innovation Day was extremely successful, attracting nearly 400 participants and top Korean leaders in research and innovation, notably the First Vice-Minister of MSIP and the Presidents and CEOs of major Korean companies and S&T Institutes. The event showcased S&T excellence in the EU and cooperation opportunities between public and private stakeholders from Europe and Korea.

The preparation of the upcoming Joint Science and Technology Cooperation Committee JSTCC meeting scheduled for 16 June was finalised at a meeting with MSIP, the main subjects and areas of exchange and discussion were also agree and a 2-hours workshop back-to-back with the JTSCC proposed by MSIP to focus on 'Technology Commercialisation' was also discussed.

Other Meetings took place with the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) with an update on both sides on EU-Korea relations in industrial technology and pro-business policies, with members of the European Chamber of Commerce in Korea and with Member States representatives at various levels.

With 4.4% of GDP invested in R&D, excellent S&T capacities, and high speed in turning lab results into commercial products and services, Korea is a key international partner country for the EU. Our collaboration in research and innovation should be deepened and broaden, including in Korea-EU researchers' mobility in the context of the ERC and MSCA. At the same time, we need to continuously seek to improve the framework condition for cooperation.

23 March 2015

Strengthening cooperation between the EU and Brazil

The European Union, represented by Ana Paula Zacarias, Head of the EU Delegation in Brazil and the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP), represented by its President Celso Lafer, signed a "letter of intent" at a ceremony held on March 18, in São Paulo, Brazil.

The objective is to strengthen cooperation between the European Union, its Member-States and FAPESP by facilitating cooperation between researchers in Europe and São Paulo, and identifying research themes of common interest. Several areas of cooperation have already been identified, including the global societal challenges of climate change, migration, renewable energy, food security and demographic change.

Cristina Russo, the EU's Director for International Cooperation in Research and Innovation, who was also present at the meeting, stressed the importance of cooperation on research related to the Atlantic Ocean.

According to Carlos Henrique de Brito Cruz, Scientific Director for FAPESP the next step will consist in establishing mechanism to support common research projects.

Ukraine joins Horizon 2020 to work with EU in science and research

Commissioner Moedas and Arseniy Yatsenyk, Ukrainian Prime Minister

Researchers, businesses and innovators from Ukraine will now be able to fully participate in Horizon 2020, the European Union's research and innovation funding programme, on equal terms with EU Member States and other associated countries. This is thanks to the Agreement for the Association of Ukraine to Horizon 2020, signed today in Kyiv by Carlos Moedas, European Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation, and Serhiy Kvit, Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine.

Commissioner Moedas said: "I am very pleased to welcome Ukraine into our EU research funding programme Horizon 2020. Ukraine has chosen to invest in its knowledge and in its people. Chosen to contribute to the common goals of the wider science and technology community. Ukraine's great research and innovation potential offers promising partnerships for Europe. And Ukraine will now have access to the full spectrum of activities funded under Horizon 2020, helping spur its economy. I hope Ukraine will make the most of these opportunities."

Horizon 2020 is the first EU programme in which Ukraine has chosen to participate following the beginning of provisional application of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement. This association to Horizon 2020 highlights that both the EU and Ukraine consider research and innovation crucial for economic growth and the creation of jobs.

The agreement opens a wide range of new opportunities to Ukrainian research institutions, universities and businesses across the whole research and innovation value chain, from fundamental research up to close-to-market activities. For instance, Ukraine will now be able to host European Research Council (ERC) grants, apply for financial support to innovative SMEs, benefit from support for scientific excellence and other research policies and participate in the governance structures of the programme.

Horizon 2020 promoted in Uruguay

(from left to right) Juan Fernández Trigo, Head of the Delegation of the European Union in Uruguay, Cristina Russo, DG RTD, Fernando Filgueira, Sub-Secretary for Education and Culture of Uruguay, Gabriel Aintablian, Director of Innovación, Ciencia y Tecnología para el Desarrollo.

Montevideo, 16 March 2015

"It is very important to be able to strengthen the cooperation we have in research; and Uruguay can take advantage of all the opportunities that are open in the H2020 program" said Cristina Russo, Director of International Cooperation at DG RTD, on 16 March at the "Horizon 2020 – Open to the World" event in the Ministry of Education and Culture (MEC) of Uruguay.

Ms Russo explained to policy officers and researchers from Uruguay how the EU Framework programme, Horizon 2020 (H2020) focuses on scientific excellence, developing industrial leadership and facing new social challenges through research and innovation. It includes all aspects of knowledge generation and use, from basic research through to technology development and innovation, including social innovation. Through H2020, Uruguayan researchers, SMEs and universities can link with research centers, agencies and companies in Europe to collaborate for mutual benefit in science and technology.

Ms Russo concluded that: "For us in Europe, being a global player in research means cooperating with others" and "Cooperation with Latin America is a priority and Uruguay can play a fundamental part. I bring the testimony of the political will we have in the European Union to strengthen cooperation with Uruguay in research and innovation".

Stimulating Research and Innovation Cooperation with Latin America

Maria Cristina Russo, Director for International Cooperation at DG RTD and Lino Barañao, Argentinian Minister for Science and Technology signing a new cooperation agreement between the EU and Argentina.

Maria Cristina Russo, the Director for International Cooperation of the European Commission's Research and Innovation Directorate-General, is currently in Latin America to promote cooperation in research and innovation with Europe, notably through the EU's research and innovation framework programme Horizon 2020.

On Friday 13 March, together with Minister for Science, Technology and Productive Innovation (MINCYT) of the Republic of Argentina, Lino Barañao, she spoke at a conference in honour of the 10th anniversary of the Argentinean-European Union Liaison Office for Science, Technology and Innovation before signing an Implementing Arrangement launching a new initiative to encourage top Argentine scientists to come to Europe as members of research teams lead by European Research Council (ERC) grant holders. Finally, she co-chaired the 8th Steering Committee of the Agreement on Cooperation in Science, Technology and Innovation, together with Ms Agueda Menvielle, National Director of International Relations at MINCYT. The agenda included discussion on cooperation in the priority areas of common interest, including Health, Bioeconomy, Renewable Energy, Marine Research and Transport.

Ms Russo then travelled to Uruguay, where together with Ambassador Juan Fernández Trigo, Head of the EU Delegation to Uruguay, she met Fernando Filgueira, the Undersecretary for Education and Culture and Gabriel Aintablian, the Director of Innovation, Science and Technology for Development at the the Ministry of Education and Culture.

At present, Ms Russo is in Brazil, which is also celebrating 10 years of the Agreement for Scientific and Technological Cooperation with the European Union. On March 17 she will speak at the XXII EU-Brazil Forum 'Brazil-European Union- World Politics Partners'. On March 18, Ms. Russo and the Head of Delegation of the European Union to Brazil, Ambassador Ana Paula Zacarias, will have meetings with representatives of the University of Sao Paulo (USP) also of the Fundação de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP). The event will include the signing a letter of intent with FAPESP, aiming to stimulate European and Brazilian researchers' participation in each other's' research programmes. On March 19, the 7th EU-Brazil Joint Steering Committee Meeting will take place in Brasilia to discuss the scientific cooperation in priority areas as food security and sustainable agriculture, marine research, renewable energies, nanotechnology, fusion energy and information and communication technology (TICs). Innovation will also be highlighted, with the attendance by funding institutions, technology parks and private sector representatives.

EU and Argentina celebrate their cooperation in science and technology

Buenos Aires, 13 March 2015

Today, the Minister for Science, Technology and Productive Innovation (MINCYT) of the Republic of Argentina, Lino Barañao, and the Director for International Cooperation of the European Commission's Research and Innovation Directorate-General, Maria Cristina Russo, honour of the 10th anniversary of the Argentinean-European Union Liaison Office for Science, Technology and Innovation.

They are keynote speakers at the conference Argentina- European Union: 10 years of cooperation in science, technology and innovation, which gathers together Ambassadors of EU Member States in Buenos Aires. They are also signing an Implementing Arrangement launching a new initiative to encourage top Argentine scientists to come to Europe as members of research teams lead by European Research Council (ERC) grant holders.

Ms Russo also co-chairs the 8th Steering Committee of the Agreement on Cooperation in Science, Technology and Innovation, together with Ms Agueda Menvielle, National Director of International Relations at MINCYT.

These events are part of a series of events bringing together Argentine and European policy makers, researchers and administrators to take stock of on-going cooperation and reflect on opportunities for future activities. Other events include a seminar on Nanotoxicology and Nanoregulation as well as workshops on New Opportunities for Business Cooperation with Europe; Research Infrastructures – e-infrastructures; Marine Research and Structural Biology.

Under the umbrella of the Agreement on Cooperation in Science, Technology and Innovation, the EU enjoys very good bilateral relations with Argentina, whose researchers are eligible for funding from the EU's research and innovation framework programme Horizon 2020. In addition, they work closely together through the regional cooperation stimulated by the EU-CELAC Joint Initiative on Research and Innovation.

Argentine researchers have been active and successful in the past framework programmes. In the seventh framework programme (the predecessor of Horizon 2020) one hundred and nineteen participants from Argentina were active in one hundred funded collaborative projects. The EU contribution to the Argentine participants in those 100 projects amounts to over €14 million. In addition 289 Marie Curie fellowships and eight of the prestigious ERC grants were awarded to Argentines in the course of FP7.

Third meeting of the EU-Africa High Level Policy Dialogue (HLPD) Expert Working Group (EWG) on food and nutrition security and sustainable agriculture

The HLPD Expert Working Group met for the third time to make progress on their input to a roadmap developing a long-term EU-Africa Research and Innovation Partnership with a particular focus, initially, on food and nutrition security and sustainable agriculture (FNSSA). This meeting followed an external consultation phase on the draft input that was launched in February 2015. The draft input focusses on three thematic pillars: sustainable intensification, agriculture and food systems for nutrition and agricultural markets and trade and some cross-cutting ones, such as innovation, social science, gender and capacity-building. The final input is expected to be presented to the EU-Africa HLPD Bureau on 27 April in Brussels.

The EU-Africa HLPD Bureau (co-chaired by the European Commission (DG Research and Innovation) and Congo Brazzaville replaced at this meeting by Namibia; the African Union Commission, DG Agriculture and Rural Development, DG International Cooperation and Development, South Africa, Latvia, Germany, UK, France and Portugal were present) also met. The HLPD Bureau will now work on transforming the input of the EWG into a final roadmap towards the EU-Africa Research and Innovation Partnership, specifically developing the potential modalities of cooperation and instruments to be used in the short-, medium- and long-term, before submitting it to the senior officials of the EU-Africa HLPD for their approval in March 2016 in Addis Ababa (tbc). On both sides, pre-meetings took place with those countries that are not currently seated in the EU-Africa HLPD Bureau (additional countries present were Belgium, Sweden, Kenya, Angola and Egypt).

In addition, a first meeting with potential funders took place, building on the successes achieved with the FP7 initiated international ERANET, ERAfrica. ERAfrica enabled 15 European and African countries to pool financial resources through a virtual fund for a total of 10.7 MEUR to fund collaborative research projects. Those funding agencies present (from France, Belgium, Finland, Norway, the Netherlands, Austria, Germany, UK, Portugal, Switzerland, Italy, Angola, Kenya, South Africa, Egypt, Ivory Coast, Namibia) indicated a clear commitment to the roadmap of the EU-Africa Research & Innovation Partnership on FNSSA.

The Mediterranean innovation potential put forward during the Innovation week in Casablanca

2-5 March 2015, Casablanca, Morocco

The Innovation Week will take place from the 2nd to the 5th of March 2015 in Casablanca and will involve several EU projects working on the sustainable development in the Mediterranean region. Multiple workshops, trainings, roundtables and a brokerage event will be organised to discuss the great innovation potential of the Mediterranean Region.

Research and innovation cooperation within the Mediterranean is critical to tackle important common challenges and develop practical tools to achieve growth and job creation, environmental protection and social development.

The R2I programme from the European Commission supports this since 2012, co-financing projects aiming to bring research to the field and therefore foster innovation. These projects join forces with other Mediterranean initiatives to proudly present and animate events focusing on the great Mediterranean innovation potential.

The European project MENFRI – Mediterranean Network of Forestry Research and Innovation will be one of the partners involved in this initiative and will co-organise two trainings: “Horizon 2020: An insight into the EU framework programme for research and innovation” (Wednesday 4th of March, with the project SOHEALTHY), and “Business & Innovation Training in the Mediterranean Area” (Thursday 5th of March, with the project MARE).

To develop its full research potential, the Mediterranean region needs to know and master the available tools and funding opportunities. The training on Horizon 2020 will provide attendants with the basic knowledge about H2020, how to prepare proposals and find adequate partners.

The training on “Business & Innovation in the Mediterranean Area” will aim to facilitate the knowledge, innovation and technology transfer from academia to business, while addressing crucial points such as commercialization (instruments, skills, etc).

The trainings will bring together researchers, SMEs, public organisations, technology transfer offices and other relevant stakeholders, and are open to all (registration is mandatory).

ASEAN-EU STI DAYS 2015

17-19 March 2015, Paris, France

The ASEAN-EU Science Technology and Innovation Days bring together researchers, scientists, science policy makers, innovative companies, and other stakeholders from ASEAN and EU countries for a yearly three-day conference on science, technology, and innovation issues. The ASEAN-EU STI Days 2015 are the second edition of this event, which will focus on presenting ASEAN research excellence to European stakeholders as well as on raising awareness of the current developments in S&T in Southeast Asia. The event will take place on 17-19 March 2015 in Paris, France and is organised by the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS). The event is an ideal occasion for networking and exchange of ideas in the thematic areas Health, Water Management and Environment, Food Security and Safety, Metrology, or Innovation.

An INDIGO Opportunity: Call for Experts on Indian STI policy and cooperation

INDIGO Policy is seeking for an expert to provide analytic support to the project.

In the framework of the INDIGO POLICY project, the coordinator Centre for Social Innovation (ZSI GmbH) is looking for an STI expert to be implemented in the analysis work package. This WP deals with critically assessing the STI cooperation between Europe and India.

The offers for this tender have to be submitted until 22.2.2015 in electronic format to Mr. Ivan Zupan (Research associate at the Centre for Social Innovation), at zupan@zsi.at

EU and Brazil enhance local cooperation under Horizon 2020

Ambassador Ana Paula Zacarias and the president of CONFAP, Professor Sergio Gargioni

The Head of the EU Delegation to Brazil, Ambassador Ana Paula Zacarias and the head of the Research and Innovation sector of the EU Delegation to Brazil, Dr Piero Venturi attended the Forum of the National Council of State Secretaries for ST&I issues (Consecti) at the Brazilian National Council of Research Support Foundations (CONFAP) on 4 December 2014, in Florianopolis, Santa Catarina State.

Ambassador Ana Paula Zacarias and the president of CONFAP, Professor Sergio Gargioni, signed a Letter of Intent with the aim of exchanging relevant information on the participation of Brazilian institutions in Horizon 2020 and encourage the Brazilian Research Support Foundations (FAPs) to fund institutions and researchers in their States that are engaged in the proposals selected by the European programme.

Brazil's participation in the previous Framework Programme (FP7) was very significant and the intention is that the country maintains this robust participation in Horizon 2020.

The Chinese Academy of Sciences has announced the launch of a special CAS-EU Partner Programme with the aim to strengthen the strategic S&T cooperation between the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the EU in the frame of the EU's Research and Innovation Framework Programme Horizon 2020. CAS institutes and other CAS entities that are part of an already successfully approved Horizon 2020 project can apply to obtain financial support for their work in the Horizon 2020 project. The deadline for applying to the Partner Programme is 02 March 2015.

Commissioner Moedas visit to South Africa

Cape Town: Commissioner Moedas’ first visit outside the European Union since he took office as the EU Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation was to South Africa to launch the second European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP2) Programme. The Commissioner attended several other meetings such as a marine breakfast, the ERAfrica showcase, a dinner with South African women working in science, and had bilateral meetings with several African Ministers and other global health stakeholders attending the Conference.

5 December 2014

MEDSPRING - 2nd Euro-Mediterranean Brokerage and Venturing Event on Research and Innovation, Berlin

On the 24th-25th February 2015, MedSpring is organizing in Berlin (Germany), a two-days event, hosted by DLR, in collaboration with MHESR, MCST, ANIMA and CIHEAM-IAMB, entitled:

“Euro-Mediterranean Brokerage and Venturing Event on Research and Innovation”.

Coming to its second edition and building on the 1st Brokerage event (held in Cairo in February 2014), this 2nd Brokerage event will be a regional Euro-Mediterranean event where SMEs, research organizations, entrepreneurs and scientists from a number of EU and Mediterranean countries will participate with the aim of facilitating bridging initiatives between research and innovation through the creation of public-private and research-enterprise partnerships. It also aims at helping relevant actors in the Mediterranean region to enhance clustering for innovation involving young entrepreneurs from the Mediterranean Partner Countries. The brokerage event will stimulate the participation of representatives of identified innovation clusters from different European countries. Existing regional networks or cluster initiatives will also be involved in the event to help trigger local to regional commercial-technology partnerships.

More than 60 participants (young entrepreneurs/researchers, start-ups, researcher institutions, tech-driven enterprises, SMEs and other relevant private/public potential investors/networks) from European and South Mediterranean Countries will meet in Berlin to share their interest and proposals for stronger cooperation. Amongst them, about 20 entrepreneurs are invited to present their innovative ideas.

CAAST-NET Plus workshop on EU-Africa collaboration in health

Cape Town: CAAST-Net Plus workshop on EU-Africa collaboration in health. The aim of the workshop was to identify niches to enhance EU-Africa health cooperation, focusing on finding new possibilities and mechanisms of collaboration rather than specific themes, including greater involvement by the private sector. The workshop featured interesting interventions from Najia Musolino, Council for Health R&D (COHRED), and John Mugabe, University of Pretoria, followed by an extended discussion on possible new developments and improvements.

The conference will focus on the question of “How to strengthen the innovation dimension in the future EU-U.S. Science and Technology (S&T) Agreement?”.

Representatives of DG Research and Innovation, representatives of ministries, American counterparts as well as experts from industry will present best-practices of successful innovation cooperation between the EU and the USA, with the aim to gain input and concrete suggestions on how to improve framework conditions for enhanced innovation cooperation.

There will further be a pre-conference workshop entitled “Towards enhanced EU-US innovation collaboration through policy measures” in the morning before the innovation conference.

The FP7 project, “Japan-EU Partnership in Innovation, Science and TEchnology (JEUPISTE) is engaged in various activities to reinforce Europe-Japan cooperation in science, technology and innovation (STI), including contribution to STI policy dialogues, information services, organisation of seminars, workshops and training courses. The 3rd JEUPISTE Consortium meeting was held in Turin (Italy) on 14 November, taking the opportunity of the second Innovation Workshop organised the day before. All the partners and members of the Advisory Board gathered and a thorough review of the project activities during the past year was made. The consortium also discussed future actions and refocusing of activities in line with the recommendations from the review that took place in May 2014, with the objective to contribute to further enhancing EU-Japan STI cooperation.

1 December 2014

EU – South Africa collaboration in Science & Technology

Cape Town: in the context of the well-established S&T Cooperation Agreement between the EU and South Africa, the 13th Joint S&T Coordination Committee (JSTCC) meeting confirmed that the collaboration is flourishing. A number of areas were identified to explore further action, especially in research infrastructures, mining and mineral research, and the bio-economy. Other areas discussed included regional cooperation with the African Union, energy and marine research.

EU-Brazil Sector Dialogues in Marine Research

On 6-7 November, a meeting of the EU-Brazil Sector Dialogue in Marine Research was held in Porto de Galinhas, Pernambuco.

The meeting brought together almost 70 representatives from the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation of Brazil, the Brazilian Navy, the Federal University of Pernambuco, the Marine Resources Unit of DG RTD, the EU Delegation in Brazil and researchers from various research centers of different countries.

During the meeting, the participants discussed opportunities for cooperation on marine sciences in the framework of Horizon 2020, as well as mobility of researchers through the Brazilian program 'Science without Borders' and a regional alliance for the Atlantic Ocean.

28 November 2014

Head of the EU Delegation to Russia visits Yekaterinburg, 20-21 November 2014

Participants at the meeting of the Praesidum of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Science

On 20-21 November 2014, the Head of the EU Delegation to Russia, Ambassador Vygaudas Ušackas, visited Yekaterinburg, Russia's fourth largest city, the centre of the Russian Ural region and one of the most important industrial centres of the country. It is also the birthplace of the first Russian President Boris Yeltsin and a city that positions itself as the "capital of Eurasia".

The programme of the visit included lectures to the students of two local universities – the Ural Federal University and the Ural State University of Economics, as well as attendance of a meeting of the Presidium of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. During the latter, Ambassador Ušackas addressed the audience, consisting of the Presidium members and directors of scientific institutes of the Ural region, with a speech on current relations between the European Union and Russia, in which he also underlined the importance of cooperation in research and called for a more active participation of research organisations from the region in the EU's Framework Programme, Horizon 2020. The visit received extensive coverage in the local press.

EU-Africa Health Research/Innovation Cooperation

CAAST-Net Plus is organising a workshop "Niches to Enhance EU-Africa Health Research Cooperation" to discuss approaches to improving EU-Africa health research cooperation, focusing on the role of the private sector.

The meeting will coincide with the launch of EDCTP2 in Cape Town, South Africa, which is taking place from 1-3 December, 2014. The CAAST-Net Plus event is co-hosted by three project partners: the Council on Health Research for Development, South Africa’s Department of Science and Technology, and the Spanish Foundation for International Cooperation Health and Social Affairs.

Also on 3rd December, the CAAST-Net Plus Meeting on EU-Africa Health Research/Innovation Cooperation will home in on the bi-regional health research cooperation impact analysis research that the CAAST-Net Plus project is currently developing. In particular, selected African and European collaborative health research project coordinators will have the opportunity to share learning and experiences with CAAST-Net Plus in order to strengthen the impact analysis.

Launch of the ERANETMED joint call

On the 1 November 2014 was launched the ERANETMED Joint Call on Renewable Energies, Water Resources and their connections for the Mediterranean Region.

ERANETMED is an EU FP7 initiative that aims at co-ordinating research activities of the different national research programmes from EU Members States, Associated Countries to the EU Research Framework Programmes and Mediterranean Partner Countries.

Building on the joint interest of Research Programme Owners, the present Call is launched based on a Virtual Common Pot scheme, where each Funding Agency funds its own national research organizations within a multilateral project selected through a peer review process.

Who can apply:
Research teams from the above mentioned countries are eligible for funding, unless otherwise specified in national rules of funding agencies which will be published on the official launch of the joint call. Research teams from other countries are eligible provided that they fund their own involvement.

BILAT USA 2.0 EU Info Tour took place in Brussels, Oslo and Berlin

Three parallel info sessions on U.S. funding opportunities for European researchers were organised by the EU-funded BILAT USA 2.0 project (FP7) in Brussels, Oslo and Berlin, on 27-31 October 2014.

The information sessions on open U.S. funding programmes put a special focus on the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) as well as the US National Science Foundation (NSF). On the one hand, the events were designed to show open funding sources and on the other hand to debate on the administrative challenges related to U.S. federal research grants application and management.

The workshops were attended by participants coming from across Europe: UK, Belgium, Germany, Norway, Spain, Italy, Poland and Czech Republic. Several researchers from high-level European and international research organisations and research managers were actively involved in the discussions. Key questions evolved around priority issues that EU researchers should consider, in order to be funded and how to manage the funds successfully. Questions such as “What is different, if we compare it with the EU funds?” were clarified by EU and US experts.

Vivian Holmes, Director of Sponsored Research Operations at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard (USA) as well as Patricia Hawk, Director of the Office of Sponsored Programs at Oregon State University (USA) provided the audience with detailed insights into the U.S. funding environment as well as gave hints and practical tips for U.S. grants management.

In addition to the broad U.S. perspective, two European experts were invited to talk about their “best-practices” with U.S. funding: Eva Björndal, Director for Post-Contract Office at Karolinska Institutet (Sweden) and Regina Notz, Senior Manager of EU Grants Access (Switzerland) presented their experiences, challenges and opportunities deriving from U.S. grants, including aspects such as compliance issues, different utilisation of terminology, places to find relevant information etc.

The BILAT USA 2.0 events have reached a large audience, showing the significant demand for detailed and practical information on alternative funding sources to support research and innovation.

Under the Italian Presidency of the Council of the European Union and with the support of the European Commission, the National Research Council of Italy organizes the conference ‘EuroMED Cooperation - Inland and Marine Water Challenges’, aimed at enhancing international cooperation on research and innovation on the Euro-Mediterranean region. The event focus on the identification of urgent challenges related to the proper management of inland and marine waters.

EU-Russia Year of Science 2014

At the EU-Russia Summit in Brussels in December 2012 the political leaders of the EU and Russia agreed to make 2014 the "EU-Russia Year of Science".
Starting on 25 November 2013, this year-long series of events, to be jointly organised across the EU and Russia, will celebrate the vibrant and multifaceted cooperation between the EU, the EU Member States and the Russian Federation
in the areas of research, higher education and innovation.

Involving scientists, research organisations, universities, innovators and the wider public, the EU-Russia Year of Science will build on Russia's strong involvement in the
current EU Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development and on the dynamic cooperation in research between EU Member States and Russia.

Additional information, including backgrounders, calendar, and how to participate and propose events on the dedicated website in English or
Russian